JAKARTA, Indonesia -- A team assigned by the government to investigate riots that swept Indonesia in May has only been able to confirm that about 16 mostly ethnic-Chinese women were raped, contradicting much higher counts by human-rights and church groups, people close to the team say.

The relatively low number of confirmed rapes, should it be included in the team's final report, is likely to fuel a backlash against Indonesia's ethnic-Chinese minority and be greeted skeptically by Chinese groups overseas. Reports of...